Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to express my sincere condolences to the friends and families of those who have lost their lives on our roads this year. As Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, I have been working with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, my officials, the transport agencies and across government to reverse the current trend and stop the level of fatalities on our roads.

The Government has set a target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by the end of this decade. As things stand, we are not on course to meet this target, and there are worrying indications in the research that driver behaviour has significantly worsened since the pandemic. Attitudes to drink-driving are becoming more permissive, drug-driving is on the rise and mobile phone use is a significant contributor to collisions.

As part of our response, I brought forward the Road Traffic Act 2024, which was signed into law by the President last month. This was priority legislation initiated late last year, and I would like to thank Members, including the Deputy, for their constructive input and helping the expeditious passing of the legislation. The Act seeks to bring about targeted and systemic change in three key areas linked to driver behaviour. First, in response to the increase in drug-driving, the Act introduces mandatory drug testing at the scene of a collision on the same basis as alcohol, rather than an optional test. Second, to help tackle the issue of excessive speed, the Act legislates for safer default speed limits on urban, national secondary and rural, local roads. Third, to enhance the deterrent effect of penalty points, the Act ensures that drivers committing multiple penalty point offences will receive multiple penalty points.

We are all working, in the Department and with the road safety partner agencies and local authorities, towards the wider implementation of these provisions and other important actions in the Government's road safety strategy.

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